Are the Celestion G12 V-Type just great or what?

[waltschwarzkopf]

Hello, World!

Just a quick post to share my experience and hear about yours.

Recently, I picked up a new pair 16Ohm V-Types for a great price, I though I would use them for a project I'm working on.

I have a half-dead 8040 Valvestate with a 4Ohm Celestion G12L which is not great, I installed one of the V-Types and because of the impedance difference I was expecting a massive volume drop, but it was actually louder and fuller, overall much better. I guess the stock G12Ls are pretty crappy.

After a while, I got an ENGL Thunder 50 Reverb fitted with a 8Ohm Celestion Vintage 30, which sounds pretty good and is a very popular and loved speaker. Just to try it, I swapped it for the V-Type and connected it to the proper output. I actually expected a worse sound, but to my surprise it was better (to my ears), I was blown away! So I did a little online research and read that (some say) the V-Type sounds better alone and the Vintage 30 sounds better mixed. However, I don't know if it means mixed with other speakers in a cab or mixed with other instruments while playing. Either way, Since I play alone at home with a single speaker I really liked the Chinese made V-Type better than the UK made Vintage 30.

Today, I tried my ENGL Gig Master 15 fitted with a 8Ohm Celestion G10N-40 speaker, and connected it to the V-Type and Vintage 30 separately to compare all three speakers. Both 12 inchers were an improvement from the smaller 10in OEM. The Vintage 30 sounded a bit bassier, but the V-Type sounder better clean. In this case I'd say it was a tie as I like them both.

Then I tried the Marshall JTM 30 fitted with a pair of 8Ohm LE10-508 Marshall Eminence Heritage speakers wired in series. They sounded quite thin and very trebbly. Since the amp only has 16Ohm outputs, I was able to try only the V-Type, which was a tremendous improvement, sounded much fuller and more balanced. However, it was still a bit high on there treble side, which appears to be the natural EQ of the amp sound, after some T-M-B tweaking I was able to obtain a better sound. I personally don't like this amp as much as the ENGLs, although is still better than the valvestate.

What do you think?
Do you have any experience with either of those speakers? I read that the V-Type were designed to be like a mixture of the Vintage 30 and the Greenbacks; however, since I haven't tried the Greenback I cannot comment on this.

Cheers,
Walt

[Cynical]

I've only ever played one cab with the V-Type, and I hated it. The low end was both lean *and* loose, and the top end was really papery and ratty. I'll stick to V30s, myself.

[NegativeEase]

I like Vtype in a Fender, in a Marshall I thought they were too loose

[gsammo79]

The V-Type in my Bassbreaker 30r was badass. I didn't have a single complaint about the speaker in that amp.

[LRS]

Hello all, it’s been a while since I contributed to this forum, but recently I started lurking, so here we go again ;-)

OT It seems a bit odd, the A-type would be the American voiced speaker, and the V-type the British one. I played the A-type, and couldn’t care less. The V-type is great. Especially in a Fender Amp. I’ve got a 1964 Fender Bandmaster. When I bought it last year, it came with the original Oxfords. At low volume they sound wonderful, but at rehearsal volume (let alone gig volume, Yes I gig my Bandmaster), they started breaking up quite quickly. they’re 58 year old originals, and I wanted to keep them that way, so I took them out and replaced them with a set of second hand V-types (payed €100,- for the pair). Other than that I needed to drill four additional holes per speaker, no sweat. And boy, do they sound great… Personally I don’t like speakers which emphesize the scooped blackface character of the amp. The Celestions perfectly fill out the mids. The bass stays focussed, the highs are present but no ice picks. Sound wise I’d place the V-type roughly between a V30 and a G12M. Without the mid spike of the V30, and without the loose Greenback bass. The cleans are very nice, and overdriven sounds hold their own. You won’t get burried in the band mix with these. Note that heavy rock and metal are not my cup of tea, we play blues / rock / pop classics. I could imagine that metal heads prefer the V30, but I don’t have the urge to try out any other speaker for my Bandmaster, I’m really happy with this setup. V-types are great speakers, not just for the money.

[64 Tele]

My Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb came with the V Type Celestion. I think it's a huge improvement over the various Jensens they have used over the years.
I'd get a V type in other cabs to use with other amps, too.

[jeremy]

Hello all, it’s been a while since I contributed to this forum, but recently I started lurking, so here we go again ;-)

OT It seems a bit odd, the A-type would be the American voiced speaker, and the V-type the British one. I played the A-type, and couldn't care less. The V-type is great. Especially in a Fender Amp. I've got a 1964 Fender Bandmaster. When I bought it last year, it came with the original Oxfords. At low volume they sound wonderful, but at rehearsal volume (let alone gig volume, Yes I gig my Bandmaster), they started breaking up quite quickly. they're 58 year old originals, and I wanted to keep them that way, so I took them out and replaced them with a set of second hand V-types (payed €100,- for the pair). Other than that I needed to drill four additional holes per speaker, no sweat. And boy, do they sound great… Personally I don't like speakers which emphasize the scooped blackface character of the amp. The Celestions perfectly fill out the mids. The bass stays focused, the highs are present but no ice picks. Sound wise I'd place the V-type roughly between a V30 and a G12M. Without the mid spike of the V30, and without the loose Greenback bass. The cleans are very nice, and overdriven sounds hold their own. You won't get buried in the band mix with these. Note that heavy rock and metal are not my cup of tea, we play blues / rock / pop classics. I could imagine that metal heads prefer the V30, but I don't have the urge to try out any other speaker for my Bandmaster, I'm really happy with this setup. V-types are great speakers, not just for the money.

and why wouldnt you gig with your old bandmaster? great amps! i gig mostly bf fenders and really like a g12h-30 in my old dr. i really like bf fenders with celestions. i havent tried the v-type though.

[NegativeEase]

My Fender 68 Custom Deluxe Reverb came with the V Type Celestion. I think it's a huge improvement over the various Jensens they have used over the years.
I'd get a V type in other cabs to use with other amps, too.

This is where I like the V Type too -a 68 Custom Deluxe -it sounds beautiful in an open back arrangement.

I didn't like it as much in a closed back -which is the opposite of what’s I would have guessed

[LRS]

and why wouldnt you gig with your old bandmaster? great amps! i gig mostly bf fenders and really like a g12h-30 in my old dr. i really like bf fenders with celestions. i havent tried the v-type though.

I had the G12H-30, albeit in another amp (2x 12” cab with a Laney Lionheart L20H, not quite blackface like). It’s another nice speaker from Celestion. Due to the heavier magnet I think the G12H-30 has a bigger bottom end and a sharper top end than the V-types (with medium weight magnet). The 40W 6L6 Bandmaster has sufficient bottom end by itself, That’s why I think the V-type suits the amp quite well. With a Fender guitar i keep the bright switch off, with a darker sounding Les Paul I have it enabled.

[jeremy]

i almost always have the bright switch off on my pro reverb and dual showman reverb. on the deluxe reverb, i clipped the cap since there is no switch. i usually use a g12h/v30 2x12 for the dsr and it has a huge sound with tons of bottom. the pro reverb has one stock jensen and one square magnet replacement speaker of unknown origin. i havent gigged the pro much so havent swapped speakers yet but ill look into getting a v-type to try in there